The Star, Thursday June 7, 2012

Residents seeing red over congestion issue

THE traffic congestion at Persiaran Bandar Mahkota Cheras 1 is still causing a headache for residents there even after the matter was highlighted six months ago to the relevant authorities.

StarMetro had previously reported (“Quick change of lights causing jams in Bandar Mahkota Cheras”, Jan 5), that the traffic nightmare began in 2008 when the access road to the Cheras-Kajang Highway was reopened.

Bandar Mahkota Cheras Residents Association chairman C.Y. Lim requested that the concessionaire Grand Saga station its officers to direct traffic during weekdays between 6.30am and 8.30am.

“Residents, especially those who have to send their children to school are stressed out, having to face the congestion on school days. For the record — there are no schools in Bandar Mahkota Cheras.

“We hope the traffic congestion can be solved as soon as possible,” he told a press conference after meeting with the concessionaire at their office near the Batu 11 toll plaza.

Nowhere to go: The access road to Bandar Mahkota Cheras leading to Cheras-Kajang Highway is congested even on weekends. 

 

Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) councillor Lee Kee Hiong said: “While there are traffic police at times (from 7.30am to 8.30am), it is not a regular arrangement. Residents sometimes have to leave their homes around 6.30am to avoid the congestion.”

She said a trial run was carried out from April 30 to May 30 to test the adjusted times for traffic lights but it worsened the traffic problem.

“We hope to have a discussion soon involving the concessionaire, Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA), the council and residents’ associations,” she said.

Bandar Mahkota Cheras business association president Henry Chin said they had spoken to the council president at a dialogue during a Chinese New Year celebration early this year on their request for a signboard to inform road users about the access to Bandar Mahkota Cheras.

Lee added: “MPKj has sent two letters (on March 22 and April 27) to the MHA to instruct the concessionaire to install a signboard to Bandar Mahkota Cheras.

“However, the concessionaire claimed that they were unaware of this,” she said.

Also at the press conference was councillor Bryan Lai.